Month: September 2026

A Chinese proverb says, “Heaven is up in the sky, but on earth, we have Hangzhou and Suzhou.” Hangzhou is only about an hour away by high-speed train from Shanghai. Our English-speaking tour guide, Pete, and the driver were waiting for us at the train station with a van. We headed to the famous West …

Southern China (8/26-9/2/26) China trip Part 4 Read More »

My daughter Mei-Ling (or LL), son-in-law Srin, and grandchildren Kaanan (15) and Kavi (13) flew from Vancouver, Canada, to join us in Shanghai. This was KnK’s first time visiting China, so everyone was excited. I rented a 3-bedroom apartment 5 minutes’ walk from the popular People’s Square. The compound consisted of several high-rise apartments and …

Family Reunion in Shanghai (8/22-9/2/26), China Trip Part 3 Read More »

From HK, we took an overnight 12.5-hour high-speed train to Beijing. It was so smooth and quiet. China has more than 31,000 miles of rail network, and standard bullet trains run between 200 and 400 km/hour. Railroad is the best way to travel around China. China uses a “true-ID” system, so foreigners must have a …

Beijing and Datong – Northern China (8/18-22/2026) Read More »

Nowadays, traveling is much more troublesome than it used to be. We started our 2026 China trip stranded at the STL airport for over 12 hours. Our flight to Chicago was canceled because of stormy weather there, which meant we missed our 4 pm connection to HK. I asked AA to book us on a …

Hong Kong (8/14-8/18/26), Southern China 2026 Part I Read More »